


Your Face Is Haunting Me

by aleia



Series: Begin Again [3]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Anxiety, BPD, Borderline Personality Disorder, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Past Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-14 06:50:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11777739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aleia/pseuds/aleia
Summary: Kent has found a family for himself and he loves his team. Zimms being thrust back in his life complicates things.Second story in Begin Again series. Can probably be read as a stand alone if you really want to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is part 2 of 4 of the main fics I have done in this series. 2-4 were originally one big story that I divided up so I'm still playing with adding some scenes so they make sense this way. Posting may be a little slower because it's a bit less finished than American Dream was as a result. I just can't stop tweaking things.
> 
> That said, I need to stop and just post eventually so here it is.

**Kent**

“Maybe you should try to talk to him,” Swoops says when Kent gets out of the shower.

Kent will give him credit for waiting until the game is over, and the press is gone. Kent has been playing in the NHL long enough that when he’s told to go get checked out by the trainer after slamming into the goal and ending up at the bottom of a pile of hockey players, he just does what he’s told. He knew he was fine, and Mashkov let him go almost as soon as he picked Kent up. But it means Kent’s running late and he told Reaper to go with the rest of the team back to the hotel. They aren’t scheduled to leave until the morning, but they need as much rest as they can get before they play Boston.

“Seriously? What happened to, ‘if he doesn’t want to talk to you, you have to respect that?’” Kent shakes his head and ignores Swoops in favor of getting dressed.

“That was when you didn’t have to see Zimmermann whether either of you liked it or not. You don’t need extra motivation of a rivalry to win. You’re always motivated to win,” Swoops says. “But you don’t need to be distracted trying to get his attention.”

“That’s bullshit. I was focused. We won.”

“You refocused after he scored. He got past you because you were distracted. Then you had to risk throwing yourself into the goal to score.”

“It’s not up to me, okay?” Kent snaps. “I’ve tried. Twice. He doesn’t want to talk. I can’t make him.”

Anyone else would’ve dropped it, but Jeff’s been in the game too long. He has friends on the Falconers he played with when Kent was still in Juniors. Jeff introduced him to Thirdy when he was just a rookie. He probably had to defend Kent to his friend tonight. Kent should apologize to Thirdy himself because it was Thirdy who called Jeff when Kent started to lose it the one year he went to Worlds. Maybe in the morning, he can send a text.

“Have you tried sober? When neither of you are already upset? When—” Jeff stops. He glances around even though it’s clear no one is there. The guys are all gone, and no one from the staff will come in if Swoops told them to wait.

“If you have something to say, just say it.” Kent’s tired. He was a first-round draft pick for a reason, and while it’s true that whole team determines a win, it’s not often that he has such an even match on the other team. He’d be exhausted even if he hadn’t collided into a goalpost to win. As it is, he’s exhausted with extra bruises on top of it. He doesn’t regret it. They needed the win. And he wasn’t going to be the reason they lost. Because fine. Swoops is right. He’s been in the NHL five years longer than Zimms. Zimms is amazing, but right now, if he can get his head in the game? Kent really is better.

“Have you tried talking to him without bringing anything else into it? Just keeping it friendly?”

“Friendly? Really, Swoops?” Kent throws his now-packed bag down on the bench. “You mean have I talked to him without trying to fuck him?”

“Don’t do that shit with me. Don’t pretend it’s just about that. You weren’t that fucked up when I met you because of some guy you were just fucking.”

Kent doesn’t know why he does this to Swoops every time. It’s not like on the ice. It’s not like when he pushes a rookie who needs to get mad to try harder. Even on the ice, Kent is careful with that. He’s had captains and coaches who yelled when it didn’t help. And fighting Swoops until he fights back never helps. Or it does sometimes because Kent is fucked up, but he only ever went to therapy in the first place because he felt guilty about taking shit out on Swoops. Swoops is probably going to say this entire game is a reason Kent has to make a therapy appointment. Kent still thinks Swoops would be captain instead of him if they didn’t take skill on the ice into account. Kent sits on the bench, leaning forward to put his head in his hands, and Jeff sits next to him. He rests his hand on the back of Kent’s neck and waits.

“I texted him sober. Sort of,” Kent says. “After I visited last year and we fought.”

“And?”

“I said I was sorry for the shit I said when I got mad. It wasn’t true, and I didn’t mean it.” Kent shrugs, continuing when Jeff doesn’t comment. “He said he was sorry, too, but he needed me to give him space. So, I can’t talk to him, okay? I keep trying, and he keeps telling me to stop, so I need to stop.”

When Jeff speaks, it’s not what Kent expects.

“What was he sorry for?”

“What?”

“You told me that you tried to kiss him, and he rejected you, and you said some stupid shit you didn’t mean because you were upset,” Jeff says. “What was he apologizing for? Just not being interested in getting back together or something else?”

Kent shrugs.

“You lied to me last year for a reason, didn’t you? What did he say?”

“He said it never meant anything. We were just hooking up, so I needed to get over it already.”

“I’m punching him. When are we playing them again? I’m going straight for his pretty face.”

Kent can’t help letting out a harsh laugh.

“As your captain, I’m telling you not to do that. You’re a worse fighter than me. Jack doesn’t like to fight, but he’ll have you on your ass before Reaper can save you. You realize he’s Bad Bob’s son, right?”

“Worth it.”

“Not even close. Seriously. I will get you out of the game if you’re going to do that.”

“And you say I’d make a better captain.” Swoops grins and elbows him.

Kent shrugs. He’s about to assume the conversation is over and get up when Swoops speaks again.

“You can tell me I’m wrong if you want, but is it possible he told you to stop _because_ you always start with trying to get back together? Could you wait a few days until you’re both calmed down and ask if he’d be willing to just talk to clear the air if you promise not to push? If you make it clear that your motivation is different? Maybe talk to Caitlyn about it.”

“I don’t know,” Kent admits. For now, he’s going to ignore the implication that he needs to schedule an appointment with Caitlyn. He’s stable. He’s been stable for a while. He knows how to use all the skills he’s learned in therapy. Most of the time. Until Zimms is in the picture.

“Think about it. If the answer is still no, he might not be upset about one text message.”

“If I agree to think about it, are you done?”

“Sure.” Jeff stands and Kent doesn’t complain when he shifts both of their bags over his shoulder. “The guys are going to have a drink to celebrate at the hotel bar. You want to go?”

“I ran into a goalpost and then you made me talk about my feelings. I want to go to the hotel and take the painkillers they gave me. If there’s nothing they need me to be a captain for, I want to go to sleep.”

“Reaper’s got everything handled. Mills is kind of worried about you, but he’ll be fine until tomorrow.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue and texts written in italics is when they are speaking French. I don't know French, so that's the best way I can keep them in character. It's not going to happen too often. This actually might be the only chapter with a lot of it, but if it's really annoying, let me know and I can change it.

**Jack**

Jack’s phone vibrates as he walks in the door and tosses his keys on the table. He smiles as he tries to navigate his way inside without dropping everything Bitty sent him home with. Marty might not be able to resist chirping Jack if he knew how much Bitty really baked for Jack when he worried—even if Jack threatened to stop sharing in retaliation. He waits until everything is put away before pulling his phone out of his pocket.

He’s expecting Bitty, or maybe even his Dad. Jack probably shouldn’t have said anything to his parents when Marty slipped up and admitted that Bad Bob had given Marty his phone number at an event they’d both attended right after Jack signed. Somehow, instead of getting them to back off, it just meant that when his Dad got information out of Marty, Jack knew about it. When Marty insisted that it was more his understanding as a father of how much Bob worried than because it was _Bad Bob_ , Jack couldn’t be mad. It was like his Dad befriending Shitty all over again.

He can’t be angry about people being determined to take care of him. And after a dinner where Bitty exchanged numbers with Gabby, well, Jack should probably stop pretending he doesn’t like it. Even if he knows he’ll probably be getting some chirps from Bob about how that dinner went.

What he doesn’t expect is for the text to be from Kent, especially since it’s been over a month since they played against each other in Providence. But then again, the Falcs are scheduled to be in Vegas in another two months and the Aces are playing the Bruins in two weeks. At least it’s even earlier in Vegas. Less chance that Kent is drunk.

 **Kent:** Hey Zimms. I promise if you don’t answer this, I won’t keep texting and I’ll leave you alone, but I was wondering if you’d be willing to talk. Sober. Without me trying make it more than it is. Just so it’s not weird when we see each other.  
**Kent:** Or maybe it’s not weird for you and you don’t care. But it’s weird for me, so if it’s all the same to you and I promise not to jump you, can we just talk?  
**Kent:** I can meet up with you after the Bruins game if that works for you. Obviously we can’t do it in public, but if you don’t trust me then maybe you could get your mom to hang around or something. Or any of your friends if anyone knows about me. I assume if you told anyone, you could trust them.

Jack sits on the couch and reads the texts four times. He almost calls Bitty before answering, but it’s one thing to tell Bitty what little he did about Kent. It seems wrong to copy and paste the entire text.

 **Jack:** Is this really Kent? You have never texted with complete sentences and punctuation in your life.  
**Kent:** Seriously Zimms? Ok, fine. Typed it in an email to myself and copy and pasted. Also, technology fills shit in for me now. Are you still using T-9 on a flip phone? You would.

That sounds more like Kenny, but if he typed and edited the first messages in an e-mail, then Jack can respect the effort.

 **Jack:** Can I get back to you on all that? Someone I want to talk to about it first if that’s ok. He won’t out you. I promise.  
**Kent:** It’s fine. Full disclosure. Jeff Troy knows about you sorta.

It should scare Jack more than it does. But instead it helps. Kent never thought he could tell his own parents. And Jack had broken his promise to keep Kent’s secret when he told Bitty. It makes him feel a little better knowing that Kent hasn’t been keeping everything to himself all these years. Besides, Jack read up on every player who had made a statement about You Can Play when he was making his decision on where to sign. Troy had been vocal enough that Jack had wondered if it meant he knew about Kenny.

 **Jack:** If you trust him, I trust you.

Jack knows that Bitty assumes that Kent will never out him because he can’t do that without outing himself, but it’s not that. There’s lines that neither of them will ever cross. Jack wonders sometimes which of them will come out first, but he knows if it isn’t him, then he won’t be caught off guard. Kenny will warn him just like Jack knows he’ll let Kent know if he comes out first.

He almost calls Bitty. But he stops. Bitty doesn’t like Kent, and Jack hasn’t gone out of his way to change Bitty’s opinion. He texts his dad instead.

 **Jack:** _Are you busy? Can you Skype?_  
**Papa:** _Give me five minutes_

Five minutes later his father is on the computer screen in front of him, and Jack staring back down at his phone.

“ _You okay, son? This isn’t a happy call is it?_ ” Bob asks.

“ _I’m okay_ ,” Jack says. “ _I just got a text from Kent. He wants to talk._ ”

“ _You said you left things badly last time_ ,” Bob says. Jack hadn’t given his parents details, but his mom knows how to use Twitter, and they’d asked when they’d seen that Kent had come to Samwell.

“ _He says he just wants to, I don’t know, clear the air so it’s not weird for us to see each other at events._ ”

“ _That isn’t a bad idea if it’s not going to be unhealthy for you_ ,” Bob says. “ _But it hasn’t gone well before._ ”

“ _It’s the first time he’s promised that he won’t push for us to get back together_ ,” Jack says.

“ _You want to do it_ ,” Bob states. “ _Talk him I mean. It’s okay to miss him, Jack. You were friends a long time_.”

“ _Bitty won’t be happy_ ,” Jack admits. He doesn’t say it, but he’s sure his dad already knows how gone he is on Bitty. If Bitty is upset, he doesn’t want to risk it.

“ _You talked to him about it_?”

“ _Not yet. I will. I promise. I just called you first because I know he doesn’t like Kent. He tries to pretend he doesn’t care, but he does. He, um, overheard part of our fight when Kent came down last year. I never asked him exactly what happened but_ — ” Jack hesitates and sighs. “ _I think Kenny was louder than me. I think he only heard what Kenny yelled back at me, so he thinks Kenny’s just mean._ ”

“ _And you haven’t cleared that up?_ ”

“ _And admit to my current boyfriend that I said some really horrible things to my previous boyfriend?_ ”

“ _Jack, you’re my son and you know I love you. More than anything. But loving someone doesn’t mean thinking they’re perfect. I remember how much you complained about Eric when he joined the team. You thought he should be kicked off even. Can you honestly tell me that boy has no idea you could screw up and say something awful when you’re upset? You’ve gotten a lot better, and just how much you’re worried right now tells me that, but you told me he curled up in a ball on the ice if anyone even got near him._ ”

Jack can feel his blush at the memory of how he treated Bitty those first few months.

“ _I’ve apologized so many times he’s told me to stop_ ,” Jack admits. “ _But I haven’t since then. Since a long time before we started dating._ ”

“ _Good, but the point stands that he knows you’re not perfect. I’ve liked him since before you did. I don’t think he’s going to break up with you because you confirm that you weren’t much better for Kent than he was for you._ ”

Jack nods but doesn’t answer.

“ _Son, you’re serious about this. Maman and I know that. But if you two are going to make it in the long haul, with the long distance and pressure from your job, you have to talk to him. You have to be honest with him. He’s probably not as perfect as he wants you to think he is either._ ”

“ _Thanks, Papa._ ”

“ _You want to hang up with me and try calling him now?_ ”

***

**Kent**

Kent isn’t stupid. He can pretend that the man Jack wanted to talk to was his friend Shitty. Maybe he’s come out to his friends since Kent last saw him, and Kent liked Shitty when they’d met.

But Kent knows Jack, and he doesn’t think Jack would bother to come out without a reason. Jack has a new boyfriend. Jack’s replaced him. And if Kent still knows Jack as well as he likes to think he does, then Kent can’t even be angry because it’s probably the cute blonde guy Jack had been fawning over at the party. Eric. Kent remembers because he already knew then. If Kent’s jealous, maybe it’s of Jack. That kid was adorable and sweet and lit up the room in ways Kent never would. Kent tried to hate him at the time and failed miserably.

It hurts, but not as much as he expects it to. Still, he keeps the promise he made when he decided to buy a house and move out of Swoops’ apartment.

 **Parse:** Zimms has a new boyfriend.

Swoops texts him back less than five minutes later.

 **Swoops:** Coming over. You better be home.

Swoops brings over tacos but no alcohol because he’s a horrible friend like that. He lets himself in and finds Kent snuggled up on the couch with Kit in his pajamas. In Kent’s defense, he always stays in his pajamas on his days off. This has nothing to do with Jack.

“So,” Jeff says as he drops the food on the coffee table and pushes Kent’s feet out of the way so he can sit down. “Did he actually tell you this after you texted him?”

“I sent him that stupid long text that you approved as not being too crazy, and he said he had to talk to someone about it and get back to me. He said, ‘ _he_ won’t out you. I promise.’ So, I admitted that you know about him, but told him you wouldn’t tell.”

“Does Zimmermann think I’m your boyfriend now?”

“No. But I know him. He hadn’t come out to his new best friend last time I saw him, and he didn’t really mind. If he came out to someone and told him about me on top of that? It’s because he had a reason.”

“Okay. You know him. I don’t,” Swoops unpacks the food and pushes at Kent until he sits up and takes a taco. He turns on the TV and flips through the On Demand options until he finds a horrible movie that he knows Kent will watch.

Eventually after Swoops is convinced he’s not going to starve from depression, Kent snuggles against his shoulder with Kit until they’re both starting to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we have Jack officially in the fic! Yes, Bitty will be showing up too. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Jack**

Jack doesn’t want to look at Bitty on the screen when he’s done talking. He knows Bitty’s still there. He’d kept mostly quiet and let Jack talk, but he’d slipped an ‘oh honey,’ or ‘sweetheart’ in whenever he could tell Jack needed it.

“Jack, sweetheart, look at me, okay?” Bitty says, and Jack does because he always does what Bitty asks these days. Papa is right. He is so gone for Bitty that there’s no hope in keeping anything from him.

Bitty looks less disappointed in him than he’d feared but it’s still there. The idea that you don’t disappoint the people who love you is an idea Jack gave up a long time ago. He’s gotten better at understanding that they don’t get disappointed by things like his anxiety and not winning every game. But when he screws up and does something really wrong, he’s used to his parents or Shitty putting him back in line. And now Bitty. That was the problem with him and Kent. They never put each other in line over the right things.

“Okay, first,” Bitty says, “Honestly, I feel kind of better that you didn’t just hook up with Kent and not care about him at all. I don’t know why you thought I’d rather think he never mattered to you. And of course, I’m not happy that you’d say those kinds of things to him. I kind of think that his idea of having your mother around is a good one if you think neither of you can behave yourselves and not hurt each other.”

“But your dad was right. You’re not completely surprising me either. You’ve changed, but I didn’t start to fall for you until you’d stopped acting like that—when I noticed that not only did you not yell at me last year, you also didn’t yell at Dex and Nursey for fighting with each other. You weren’t hard on any of the boys when we lost at finals. You and Kent both slipped up last time you saw him, but you aren’t really like that anymore. And if you want to talk to him, I understand that. I trust you to tell him about me. I’m only going to object if it seems like either of you is pushing the other into a bad place again. And you better believe I will have Shitty and all the boys stage an intervention with me if I need to.”

“I’m pretty sure Shitty would intervene before you asked,” Jack says, smiling a little. “When we were freshman, he said he’s always defend me. He says that includes defending me from myself. If you didn’t already know, he took your side every single time I was a jerk to you.”

“Oh, I knew,” Bitty says with a laugh. “You know, I’m sure if you told him, he’d be happy to let you guys talk it out in his apartment. I’m sure he’d jump in if either of you started to get out of line.”

“Maybe. I’ll ask Kenny about it.”

“Kenny, huh?” Bitty says. “You know that’s the first time you’ve called him anything besides ‘Parson’ since we started dating.”

“I think it felt weird when I knew I wasn’t being completely honest with you,” Jack admits.

“I’m not mad, sweetheart,” Bitty says. “We talked about it pretty early. We were still figuring out how to talk to each other. You weren’t ready for the hard stuff yet. And maybe I wasn’t completely honest about not being a little jealous.”

“Bits, I love you. You know that, right?”

“I know. I know,” Bitty says. “But he’s still your ex. I just need to know you’ll be honest now. I do trust you, I promise. It’s just kind of weird, so it helps to know you’ll talk to me.”

“I promise. I’ll tell you. And I don’t think this is us being friends again. Just trying to make it so we can be around each other without it being a big deal.”

“Do you want to be friends again?”

Jack wishes he could give Bitty the very certain no he’s sure Bitty wants, but he can’t. His dad was right. He does miss Kent. And he just promised to be honest.

“I don’t know. If we could get back to just being friends, and it was good? Maybe. But I don’t know if that’s possible.”

Bitty nods and takes a deep breath.

“Okay. I’m not going to tell you not to or anything. But if that’s how it goes, I’d like to meet him again. Not just to make some statement about being your boyfriend. But if you both think that maybe you can’t even have a civil conversation on your own, then I’d feel better if I could at least try to get to know him if you’re going to talk on a regular basis.”

Jack nods. He’s not sure it will even come up, but he feels better going into it knowing what to tell Kent if they even consider trying to be friends again.

“Is it weird if I text him back while you’re still here?”

***

**Kent**

Kent whines when Swoops starts prodding him awake.

“You have a text,” Jeff says, and Kent wakes up with an embarrassing jolt. He takes the phone and opens it because he has too much pride to stare at his phone nervously for an hour when Jeff’s around.

**Zimms:** Do you remember my friend Shitty? He lives in Boston now. If I tell him about us, he’ll probably agree to let us talk in his apartment after your game. I know he’s not completely unbiased, but I promise he’ll put me in check if he hears me being a dick.

Kent considers that Shitty wasn’t a dick to him the second time he’d shown up at Samwell even if the first time hadn’t gone so well. That’s probably better than the Zimmermanns.

**Kent:** Sure. That works.

“I feel like you should get your own representative,” Swoops says after Kent updates him. “That’s his best friend, right?”

“Yeah,” Kent says, and it stings only a little because his own current best friend is right next to him even if Swoops is more like the over-protective older brother he’ll never admit he always wanted. “But you literally said you still want to punch him a couple hours ago. I’ll be fine.”

It’s another hour before Jack texts him again. He’s not surprised by the wait considering Jack is just now telling Shitty about Kent after five years. Jeff would never have let that slide, but to be fair, Kent would go insane keeping a secret from Jeff that long, and Jack never seemed to care.

**Zimms:** Shitty says he’ll do it if you get him tickets to the game. But he’s full of shit. He’ll do it anyway.  
 **Kent:** Is he going to show up in a Bruins jersey?  
 **Zimms:** I’m generally just grateful if he’s fully dressed.

Kent figures it couldn’t hurt to get on his good side.

**Kent:** I’ll leave a ticket at will call. Tell me if he needs an extra.

Kent doesn’t close the window right away so he gets to suffer though the nervousness of seeing a series of dots appear and disappear.

**Zimms:** I think it’s better if we don’t talk too much before, but also it seems unfair to wait until we’re in the same room to tell you that I have a boyfriend. I’m not trying to say anything in particular by telling you that now. I believe you when you say you won’t try anything. It just seemed unfair to not tell you in advance.

Kent blocks out his feelings long enough to answer.

**Kent:** Okay. I thought you might.

He can’t bring himself to say it’s okay or even thank Jack giving him time to deal with this before they meet up. He knew. He told Swoops as much. But Jack confirming it still hurts like hell. He passes Swoops the phone in explanation before he pulls the blanket from the back of the couch over him and lies down with his head in Jeff’s lap. Jeff doesn’t say anything while he cries. He just sits there and rubs Kent’s back until Kent says he’s tired and drags himself to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this months ago and then of course, after looking back on it, ended up adding a few things this week. So we're at 6 chapters now. Yay?


	4. Chapter 4

**Kent**  
Kent knows Jeff was worried his concentration would be off against the Bruins, but it’s the opposite. The Falcs game was an outlier. Kent doesn’t distract that easily and he sure as hell doesn’t want to go into talking to Jack with a loss on his mind. Kent scores the last goal to give them a three-goal lead and spots Shitty in the crowd cheering as the celly breaks up.

He takes just enough time to shower and celebrate with the boys before breaking away. They have a three-day break after this, so Kent’s using the excuse to stay behind an extra night. Swoops is staying behind, too even though Kent argued against it. Kent’s not sure how he’s the one with the reputation for being stubborn when he loses to Jeff all the time.

He meets up with Shitty outside the locker room so he can follow him back to his apartment. The nice thing about having Shitty at the game is that no one asks him why he’s staying in Boston. The boys don’t know who Shitty is, but Kent says, “my friend who lives in Boston,” and they drop it. Mills, the rookie Kent adopted at the beginning of the season, seems disappointed when Kent doesn’t offer to introduce him, but Jeff and Reaper distract him and push him toward the bus. Kent can tell Reaper and Matty aren’t happy about the plan or that he waited until the last minute to tell them. They only let it go because Jeff told them to. Kent knows they’ll corner him about it eventually. It’s only a question of if they’ll do it separately or together.

The bad thing about having Shitty at the game is that after he follows Shitty back to the apartment, Shitty knows he’s there. Kent can’t sit in his rental car and freak out about seeing Jack until he’s ready to go in. Shitty leans against his own car for a few minutes before he must get impatient for Kent to hurry up and walks over to the rental. He stands by the door for a few seconds before he knocks on the window.

Kent sighs and just opens the door. Shitty had been all easy smiles after the game. Kent had even smiled a little himself from the excitement of the win. But now Shitty seems to have picked up Kent’s mood.

“I wanted to give you time man,” Shitty says, “But it’s freezing. And both of you are just going to get more anxious dragging this out.”

Kent doesn’t say that it’s probably more Jack who’d get anxious waiting for them to come in because that seems like an asshole thing to say when Jack has actual anxiety issues. Kent has his own issues, but sitting outside while Jack works himself up inside isn’t going to help. So, Kent gets out of the car and follows Shitty upstairs.

Jack gets up from the couch when they come in. Kent swears he’s packed on even more muscle since they last saw each other. He probably has.

“There’s soda and water in the fridge, and Lardo left tea if you want that,” Shitty says. “Don’t touch the beer. That’s not going to help.”

Kent nods his acknowledgement.

“Okay,” Shitty says. “So, I’m just going to go in the bedroom. If I overhear anyone being an asshole, I’m coming out to kick your asses.”

Kent can’t help chuckling as Shitty leaves. There’s no way he can take one of them, let alone both. But he doesn’t want to fight with Shitty and Jack probably doesn’t either.

Kent wanders to the kitchen to get a bottle of water so he can have something to hold onto and distract himself if he needs it.

“It was a good game,” Jack says, sitting back on the couch as Kent takes a seat in the recliner across from him.

“You watched? Already getting ready to try to beat us again?” Kent asks with a smirk.

“Wanted to know what kind of mood you’d be in when you got here,” Jack admits.

Kent nods, looks down, and fiddles with the bottle in his hands. He asked Jack to do this, so he should say something. Jack’s quiet as he waits for Kent to say anything at all. He’s spent a lot of time the last two weeks trying to figure out exactly what he even wants out of this if getting Jack back is not an option.

“Can you just tell me what I did?”

“Last year?” Jack asks.

“No,” Kent laughs. “No. I know what I did then. I pushed. You pushed back. We said stupid things because we got mad. I told you I didn’t mean any of that shit. You got that, right?”

“I know. You know I didn’t mean what I said either, right?”

Kent shrugs because he doesn’t know that for sure.

“Kenny, I really didn’t. I cared about you when we dated. I—” Jack hesitates and takes a deep breath before finishing. “I loved you. It wasn’t just sex. You know that.”

Kent takes a long drink from the bottle of water to regain his composure. He’s not going to cry.

“Then what did I do that made you shut me out?” Kent asks. “We both said we didn’t care who went first in the draft. That we’d be fine either way. And I know it didn’t end up like we planned, but I tried to be there. I wanted to help you.”

“It wasn’t about you,” Jack says. “I mean, maybe our thing added something, but it wasn’t about you. I had problems. And you knew that, and I know you tried. But we were kids, and I was just a lot more messed up than anyone realized.”

“So I couldn’t help, but I could’ve been there. Was it because I signed? You know—” Kent sighs because he’s never said this out loud. “You know I would have made time for you. I would have picked you before hockey.”

“I didn’t want you to do that,” Jack says.

Kent stays silent. It’s been years, but he still knows the look on Jack’s face when he’s trying to work out what he wants to say in his head.

“You didn’t do anything,” Jack says. “I did. I took too many pills. I fucked up my future. And after, I just couldn’t think about any of it. I couldn’t even handle seeing my parents, but I didn’t have a choice in that. It wasn’t just you. I shut out everyone. I didn’t talk to any of our other friends. I didn’t talk to my agent. I couldn’t handle seeing any of my aunts or uncles for months. I didn’t just shut you out. I shut everyone out. I couldn’t deal with anything. And when I started to feel like I could start over, I just wanted to totally start over. So, I went somewhere I didn’t know anyone. For a long time, who I was before didn’t even feel like the same person. You didn’t do anything. You just reminded me of things I still couldn’t deal with.”

That’s not the answer Kent expected. He has no idea what to even say to that.

“I’m sorry I had to hurt you to get better, but it would have hurt you if I didn’t get better, so…” Jack shrugs and doesn’t finish the thought.

“I didn’t do anything,” Kent says, just because he doesn’t believe it still.

“You didn’t do anything. I just needed space to get better,” Jack says. “I’m sorry I couldn’t figure out how to tell you that before things just got more and more of a mess.”

“I’m sorry I kept bothering you,” Kent says.

“It probably would have helped if I’d explained better, but I didn’t know how. I just couldn’t face anyone. When I went back to hockey, I got a new agent. It’s still weird to see guys we played with in Juniors.”

“And now you’re better?” Kent can’t help asking.

“I’m not completely better, but I’m doing really well.”

“Your new boyfriend helped with that?” Kent’s proud he keeps the bitterness out of his voice.

“More like he didn’t even like me until I really started getting my shit together.” Jack smiles when he says it, and it’s hard to pretend it doesn’t hurt. “I got better, and that’s just where things went.”

Kent nods. Jack got better and by that time his feelings weren’t for Kent.

“So now what?” Kent asks because he’s thought a lot about what he wants.

“What do you want?” Jack asks. “If we can’t be…together, do you want to be friends?”

“Do you?” Kent asks. “Because I don’t just miss what we had when we were more than friends, but you seem to be doing fine without me.”

“Kenny…”

“No. I’m not pushing this time, Zimms. I’m just asking. If you still need to have everything in the past stay in the past for you to be healthy, just tell me that. I’m okay. I have friends. We can just nod from across the room and be polite when we see each other. If that’s what you need to stay in a good place, then that’s okay. I just need you to tell me this time.”

Kent doesn’t say that it will really suck. Zimms probably knows that already. But he also doesn’t want be the reason Zimms breaks down again. He still loves Jack, and Jack is right. Losing Jack as his boyfriend hurt, but he’d rather have Jack alive and not talking to him than not alive at all. He would have made that same decision at seventeen if he’d been asked. And he meant it when he told Jeff that he’d leave Jack alone if that’s what Jack wanted. He stays silent while Jack thinks.

“I miss my friend,” Jack says finally, and Kent feels a weight lift off him.

“I miss my friend, too,” Kent says, finally smiling.

“Bitty, um, that’s my boyfriend,” Jack says. “He said he’d like to get to know you if we start trying to be friends again.”

“He doesn’t trust me?” Kent wants to be angry, but he was right that he knew exactly who Jack’s new boyfriend is.

“It’s not that he thinks you’re going to try to make me cheat,” Jack says. “He doesn’t trust that neither of us will say or do something stupid to make me start acting like a jerk again. He gets that it wasn’t just you that was an ass when we fought.”

“I think he already follows me on twitter,” Kent says with a laugh. “I can follow him back.”

Kent doesn’t say that even if he doesn’t follow Bitty, he’s been reading his tweets to check up on Jack since Bitty followed him.

“This is going to be horrible idea when you both start talking about me on twitter.” Jack laughs. Kent hasn’t seen him laugh like that in years. It makes it hard to hate Bitty.

“Seems like a better idea than trying to force ourselves to be friends just for you,” Kent says.

“It’s a start.”

***

It’s impossible to catch each other up on over five years of each other’s lives, but they don’t have to do that completely anyway. Apparently, they’ve both followed each other in the media the entire time, so it’s more about clearing up the things the media got wrong. Kent avoids asking if any of the things he read about Jack dating before Bitty are true. He’s not sure he wants to know yet, and Jack doesn’t offer. Jack doesn’t ask about any of his partying, but he knows more about the Aces than Kent expected. Jack shrugs and looks away when Kent points that out.

“I did ask my dad sometimes. He said you never said that he couldn’t tell me anything,” Jack says. “I think he knew I wasn’t ready to talk to you, but it helped me to know you weren’t alone. Sorry. I know I barely let him tell you anything, so that wasn’t fair.”

“It’s true though. And if I’d known, I would’ve told him it was okay. Especially if it helped you. And he never gave me details, but he always told me that you were doing better when I asked.”

“Yeah. He, um, told me it wasn’t fair to not tell you that I wasn’t going to die. And he was right. That would’ve been really shitty.”

“I’m not going to argue with that one.”

They’re quiet for a while before Kent changes the subject to something lighter. Guilting Jack isn’t going to make things better, and he’s not too surprised to find that he doesn’t want to make Jack feel bad about it anymore. Maybe that’s a not so awful side effect of still being in love with him. Or it’s just that Kent _knows_ that Jack dying would’ve been the worst thing. If asking about Kent and not giving as much information back helped him get better, Kent’s fine with that now.

When it’s getting late, Shitty comes out and says he’s going to bed, but they’re welcome to stay as long as they want since they seem to be doing okay. Kent checks his phone, and he has five texts from Jeff pretending that he’s not worried since surely Kent would text if something was wrong. Kent texts him back that he’s fine. When he looks up, Jack’s also texting. It’s probably something similar to Bitty.

“I should probably get back to the hotel before Swoops dies of worry,” Kent says to save Jack from having to say he should get home to Bitty. Or maybe to save himself from having to hear it.

They both stand up and end up staring at each other awkwardly. Kent’s about to just mumble an awkward goodbye and push past Jack when Zimms laughs.

“Sorry. Did you want?” Zimms shrugs and opens his arms to offer a hug. Kent rolls his eyes.

“Not if it’s like a pity hug. Seriously, Zimms.”

“That’s stupid,” Zimms says. “Kenny, you’re my friend.”

There might be an extra emphasis on the word _friend_ , but when Zimms moves to hug him, Kent lets him.

It’s stupid, but it’s been six years since he got a real hug from Zimms instead of a fake bro hug or Kent trying to get closer and Zimms pushing him away. He’s blinking back tears and choking back a sob before he can stop it. Zimms pulls back without totally letting go, and Kent wipes at his face.

“Sorry. It’s just. Fuck. I would make it weird, I know.”

“Kenny, no. It’s, it’s okay. I just…” Zimms sighs and when Kent looks up at him, his eyes are sad and worried.

“Kenny, you’re my friend,” Zimms says. There it is again. _Friend_. That obvious word Kent can’t decide if he likes or not right now. “It’s okay. Just. Is this helping or making it worse? I can hold you if helps, but I don’t want to make it worse.”

Kent’s not really sure of the answer, but he goes back into Zimms’ arms anyway, pressing his face into Jack’s chest and clinging to him as he cries. Zimms holds him tight. One of Jack’s hands moves to the back of his head as Kent breathes him in. He’s not really Kent’s anymore, and he never will be. But for the first time in six years he’s here, and he’s _alive_ , and he’s not going anywhere until Kent’s ready.

“I hate you,” Kent mumbles in a way that he knows Jack will know really means _I love you_. “Don’t you ever almost die on me again. I don’t care if it means I never get to see you again. If I think you’re not okay, I’m telling both of your parents, and Shitty, and Bitty and flying out here and dragging you into a hospital myself if I have to.”

“I promise,” Zimms says, and Kent feels Jack’s lips press against his hair for a couple seconds. Yeah. Okay. He’ll take friend. Friend is a really good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I need to write a deleted scene of Jeff at the hotel after because it's not in the next chapter and now I'm thinking about it. lol. Thoughts?


	5. Chapter 5

**Bitty**

When Kent follows Bitty on twitter, Bitty takes it as a sign that his talk with Jack is going okay. He takes a minute to be embarrassed that Kent must know that Bitty was already following him, but then he figures that most of the hockey team has been following Kent since Epikegster, and if it comes up, Bitty can just pretend that he follows so many people that he never bothered to stop. Jack has already come home and rehashed his meeting with Kent when Bitty gets a follow alert from @theRealJeffTroy. So now he’s got two professional hockey players following him.

Jack looks less than happy when he reports this.

“It’s just, Kent kind of admitted that Troy mostly hates me,” Jack says. “He’s not as understanding as Shitty, I guess. I hurt his best friend so he doesn’t like me.”

“Honey, I don’t think a professional hockey player is going to publicly attack me on Twitter. You have an Instagram. I think you know better than that.”

Jack still picks up his phone to text Kent.

“Don’t be crazy,” Bitty says and Jack leans over so he can see the conversation.

**Jack:** Should I be worried that Troy followed Bitty on Twitter? I understand why he doesn’t like me, but Bitty didn’t do anything.  
**Kenny:** Swoops is like an over-protective brother I never wanted, but he’s not a dick. Also, if I can keep him from punching you in the face, I can keep him from attacking your bf on social media.  
**Jack:** Ok. Thanks.  
**Kenny:** Also, I’ve met Bitty. I figured out you liked him before you did and I still couldn’t hate him. Don’t know why you’re worried.

Jack doesn’t answer but Kent texts again anyway.

**Kenny:** Also, I can’t believe you didn’t know you liked him. Have you read his twitter? You jumped over a snowbank to ask him for coffee. Then you spilled hot coffee all over him. :’D

Jack groans and turns the phone so Bitty can’t see it.

“In your defense, I didn’t figure it out either,” Bitty says. He really needs to go back through his twitter and re-evaluate everything.

***

Kent is silent on Twitter until the next night. Bitty isn’t surprised considering he knows Kent is flying back to Vegas. Bitty still isn’t expecting to get a DM from Kent.

@ KentParsonOfficial: If you need to say anything personal, you can get my number from Jack. Texting is less likely to get hacked. But otherwise this is weird as fuck for both of us, right? At least we are both used to Twitter even if Zimms doesn’t get it.

@omgcheckplease: I admit I wasn’t thinking of how I’d get to know you when you’re in Vegas and just randomly starting to text would be weird. This works.

Bitty gets Kent’s number from Jack and saves it as Kit because he trusts his friends to respect his privacy, but he doesn’t trust his drunk friends to not text the NHL players they don’t really know. Ransom has tried to get Tater’s number so many times that he’s texted random people in Bitty’s classes hoping to figure it out. Kit isn’t the hardest code to figure out, but Kent would probably take it better.

**Bitty:** This is Bitty. I figured if I had your number, you should have mine to make it fair.

Bitty gets a thumbs up emoji back, and they leave it that. A couple weeks later he cross posts from Instagram and gets followed back by three different accounts: @KentParsonOfficial @KitPurrsonOfficial and a locked account @KennyP90. He takes that as an invite to follow them all back and gets approved from @KennyP90 the next day. All the private account tells him is that Kent likes his cat even more than the public knows, he has favorite places in Vegas that he probably doesn’t want everyone to know about, and the Aces are a lot goofier than they let on to the public. He scrolls back and finds that Kent reposted Lardo’s picture of him admitting to losing at flip cup. There are 37 chirping comments from accounts Bitty either recognizes as Aces players or can decode as Aces players.

The next day his Instagram gets a follow from @theRealJeffTroy (because of course it does.) He knows Jeff is following Jack on Instagram too. He also knows that while Kent has started liking and commenting a bit on Jack’s posts, Jeff seems content to just make the point that he’s watching.

Bitty knows Kent is still in love with Jack because Jack told him. He knows Kent cried after they talked, and Jack held him. He honestly expected to be jealous about it, but when Jack told him about it, Bitty was the one in Jack’s bed. And he can’t help thinking that while he hopes he and Jack never break up, if they do, he doesn’t want to lose Jack as a friend. It doesn’t seem fair to wish that on Kent. So, he ends up hoping that maybe Kent finally got some of the closure he needs to move on.

Jack mentions his texts with Kent enough that it’s not close to a secret, but everything Bitty has seen tells him it’s mostly an endless round of good-natured chirping. It’s not venturing into flirty, but it’s more casual and personal than Jack is on the SMH group chat. If anything, it reminds him of his own text thread with Lardo. 

Bitty resolves to stay out of it until Kent goes silent for three days, and Jack’s anxiety starts telling him that he did something wrong even though there’s no evidence to support it. Eventually, Bitty talks Jack into talking to his parents about it. Bitty’s not sure what avenues Bob uses to contact Kent, but a few hours later Kent finally texts Jack back.

“He thought _I_ was mad at _him_ ,” Jack says. “He won’t even explain why he thought that.”

It’s probably a bit unfair to wait until Jack is on Skype with Bob and Alicia to suggest that Kent and Jack try to meet with Jack’s therapist, but it’s a week later and Jack and Kent still haven’t actually talked about what happened.

Bob agrees with the idea and suggests that Jack bring it up.

“I think,” Bob says and then pauses like he’s trying to figure out how to make his point without saying something he shouldn’t, “he’ll agree to it if you say it’ll help you. He’s not against therapy, but he’s never had the same attitude about it that you have.”

***

**Kent**

It takes longer than Kent expected for Reaper to ask him about Jack. He makes it back to Vegas and through an entire week before Reaper corners him after practice and asks to talk to him alone.

“You stayed behind in Boston to talk to Zimmermann, right?” Reaper asks. “And now you’re friends again?”

“I’m impressed you took this long to ask about it,” Kent says. To be fair, Reaper isn’t much of a talker. He’s a hugger. And he’s physical in general. He rarely says he cares, but he’s always the angriest when Kent gets hit, and if it’s bad, he’s been known to hover more than Swoops. He chirps affectionately and claps Kent on the shoulder when he thinks Kent needs it. He argues when he thinks Kent’s wrong, but mostly he leaves the talking up to Jeff.

“Well, you didn’t get drunk on twitter this time, so I thought maybe you’d gotten some sense. Then he started liking your Instagram posts.”

“I didn’t get drunk because it’s different. We’re working out our shit. We’ve grown up. We can be friends again.”

“You had some kind of issue with him when you went to that party last year. You just covered it better, and left before curfew that time. You weren’t okay when we played him.”

“Which is why we decided we had to work out our shit. Because now we’re going to have to see each other more. And we want to be able to just go play hockey without the drama.”

“And that’s working?”

“Everything is Swoops approved,” Kent says. “And it’s not fucking up the team, is it?”

“Yeah, kid,” Reaper says, rolling his eyes. “I think we gave up pretending I only care about the team the first time he caused some shit.”

Kent sighs. Swoops cannot find out about this. They’ll both get shit for not bothering to have actual conversations. But it’s not like he can explain that it’s different because he’s given up trying to get them back together.

“Man, you act like we ever talked about what happened. It was a long time ago, but he didn’t just cause shit okay? It wasn’t just his fault. I definitely started the shit both times, okay?”

“He was not allowed to fight in college. I don’t care if he’s Bad Bob’s son. I’m sure I can take him.”

“Completely unnecessary. He didn’t even do anything when we played them and you know it.”

“I’m just saying. If he does.”

Kent rolls his eyes, but he knows to pick his battles with Reaper, and Reaper won’t really fight Zimms without a reason.

***

Matty doesn’t give him the same warning Reaper did. But even after Kent became captain, Matty’s always been on a different level than the rest of the guys. The older they get, the more guys don’t remember Kent when he wasn’t much more than a kid. Now it’s just Reaper and Jeff who still call him a kid, a team of guys who respect him as a player, and a few younger guys who look up to him for reasons Kent never feels he deserves. Matty manages to be his own group in the middle. Sure, he listens to Kent on the ice. But off the ice, they’re still the same guys who were just trying to figure out the NHL together.

They’re at Kent’s house playing video games, neither one of them trying that hard to beat the other. When their food order comes, they leave the game paused and focus on eating instead.

“Are you friends with Zimmermann again?” Matty asks.

“Yeah.”

“If you start doing stupid shit and forgetting who has been around the last five years to be your friend, I’m logging into all your social media and telling everyone he’s a dick and I’m better than him.”

Kent laughs because there’s no way Matty would really cause a PR nightmare like that. Matty is the least dramatic friend he has. Even Reaper makes a crazy show of how upset he is when Kent gets hurt.

“I’m not trading you in. I can have multiple friends,” Kent says.

“I’m still better than him. Just saying.”

“Noted.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Jack**

Jack drives directly to Samwell after his therapy appointment on Wednesday. They decided it was better to keep the same therapist he’d been seeing near Samwell instead of trying to find a new one in Providence. It has the added benefit of giving him an excuse to drive to Samwell to see Bitty after.

The Haus is empty when Jack lets himself in. He knows they have practice, and he feels kind of bad about not dropping by Faber, but he doesn’t feel like seeing a crowd of people yet. The new frogs are nice, but they look at him with an awe that he doesn’t feel he deserves. His favorite thing about the Samwell hockey team was that once the upperclassman who gave him a hard time graduated, the rest of the guys refused to treat him like he was any better than they are.

There’s a pie on the kitchen counter. It’s maple apple because Bitty knew he’d need it. He eats a slice and then goes upstairs to lie down in Bitty’s bed.

When he wakes up, the light is off and Bitty is on the computer. Señor Bun is tucked under Jack’s arm. Jack mumbles his name and reaches for him.

“You’re adorable when you wake up,” Bitty says, smiling. He saves whatever he was working on and gets up. When he’s on the bed, Jack pulls him close and wraps around him. He appreciates that Bitty loans him Señor Bun, but he prefers Bitty.

“Everything okay, sweetheart?” Bitty asks after Jack finishes nuzzling and getting comfortable around him.

“Yeah. Just, I guess I knew it probably sucked for Kenny when I stopped talking to him, but I never really _knew_.”

“That’s not all your fault. I’m sure no one said that,” Bitty says. “It was just a lot of things going wrong, and it hurt both of you.”

“But he didn’t have anyone else. I had my parents, and they were all he had, and then he didn’t have them either.”

“That’s not your fault. That’s definitely his parents’ fault. And your parents kept in touch. And he had Jeff.”

“Yeah. I know. He doesn’t even blame me or anything. And you were right. It was good to have my therapist help us talk. I didn’t…I didn’t know for sure that he had a specific mental illness, too. We talked about it. And how we can try to not make each other worse.”

“You know you didn’t give him mental health issues, right? I’m sure they told you that.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Later, Jack will talk to Bitty about it. He’ll make Bitty promise to listen to what Kent and the therapist said about BPD instead of googling it. But right now, he’d rather go back to sleep with Bitty next to him.

***

**Kent**

“What if he googles it and decides he’s better off never talking to me?” Kent says when he gets downstairs after his appointment with Zimms and his therapist. He’s not sure when Jeff came over, but he’s not surprised to find him in the living room watching TV either.

“You said he promised not to do that. Is he the type of person who would do that?” Jeff asks.

“No. But Bitty might be.”

“You think he’ll tell Bitty?”

“I told him that he could tell him if he really needed to. I’m not going to ask him to keep secrets from his boyfriend.” Kent doesn’t want to break them up—and not just because he promised he wouldn’t do that kind of shit. He’s not sure how he feels about that realization.

“Well, if Bitty googles and judges you instead of getting to know you, then he’s a dick.”

“What if Zimms’ doctor is one of those doctors who thinks BPD people are just toxic and awful?”

“Then he should get a new doctor because she sucks.”

“He’s been seeing her for four years. He shouldn’t get a new doctor for me if it’s working for him.”

“I don’t know why you didn’t have Caitlyn,” Jeff says. Then he shakes his head before Kent can answer and adds, “Okay, yes, I know why. Because you still hate calling her.”

“You’re going to say I should ask him to Skype with her now, aren’t you?”

Kent knows the answer to that, but he still picks up Kit and takes her to the couch so he can snuggle under Jeff’s arm. He’ll never understand how people can actually like therapy. He’ll admit that it helps long term, but he always feels vulnerable right after, and he hates that.

“I think you trust Caitlyn to explain BPD in a way that doesn’t make you sound bad. And you probably didn’t tell Zimmermann how scared you were about telling him. You probably acted like it was the same as him explaining his anxiety to you. And maybe he was worried about talking to you about that, too, but he knows you aren’t going to stop being his friend because of it. He’s not having the same freak-out you’re having now,” Jeff says. He squeezes Kent’s shoulder and flips channels until he finds a reality show he knows Kent will like zoning out on.

“If I promise to call her in the morning, will you shut up about it?”

“Sure. If you don’t call her, I’m telling Mills about that time you broke your finger and didn’t miss a single game.”

“That’s super un-fair. It was during the playoffs. We won the cup that year. It’s not the same as him sitting out when we can spare him. His wrist will be fine in a week.”

“I waited five years for you to adopt a rookie I could use against you. I’m doing it as long as it works.”

“I’m telling Mama.”

“Okay. Who do you think I got this method of blackmail from?”

***

Kent hates that Jeff’s right, but he’s not surprised. Zimms agrees to Skype into a session with Caitlyn easily. The most nerve-wracking thing is that Jeff isn’t there. It’s not the first appointment he’s missed going to with Kent. There was one time he was sick and one time that Jeff was out of town because Mama was sick. There have been Skype sessions he missed because one or the other of them was injured. This time, it just doesn’t seem fair to Zimms to ask him to Skype in while Jeff’s there.

“I didn’t google anything. Bitty didn’t either,” Zimms says after Caitlyn gets him to admit that he was worried.

“I’m pretty sure even your dad googled it when I told him.”

“He didn’t know not to then. And he didn’t tell me about it, or tell me that I shouldn’t talk to you again because of it.”

Later, after the whole official appointment is over, Kent gets a text from Jack.

 **Zimms:** Please stop worrying I’m going to disappear again. I DID miss you. I just didn’t know if we could be friends again until you offered it.  
**Zimms:** I’ve never been that great at making friends. You’re still one of my best friends. I’m not just going to forget about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this one is done! I know it's a short one, but I was struggling to divide up the big file and I decided to go by topic instead of length. So this is the "Kent and Jack make amends" section of the whole thing.
> 
> The next installment is being edited and I have a few pages of the beta back. Coming up, more Bitty! Kent finally gets a date! Those two things are not related! lol

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I'm happy to know if you find typos. I have a great beta and then I rewrite again and again and make new errors. Sorry?
> 
> Comments and Kudos are life. If you comment, I'll likely tl:dr back at you. :D


End file.
